Nobody Beats The Beats

Nobody Beats The Beats Inpress Magazine Review September 2005

Various Nobody Beats the Beats
By Mawuse Ziegbe

Nobody Beats the Beats is one of those somewhat frustrating albums that work great in theory but don’t translate to the vision of perfection that it invariably promises to be. Here’s the scenario: An independent Danish label manages to get new verses from American hip hop mavericks Little Brother, Black Thought, UK lyricist Ty and underground vanguards Brand Nubian and even EPMD legend Erick Sermon. The sonic backdrop is a delectable mix of soul, dub and jazz. This rare cocktail of cultural and musical convergence blessed with appearances from hip hop’s past, present and future is a magical occurrence that transcends verbal articulation, right? Right?!?! Well, kinda.

The issue, ironically enough is not that there is too much going on but rather there is not much special happening. Little Brother’s “Cloud 9″ is sweet and “Wait a Minute” with Black Thought, ADL, Jahi and Myron is cool. Yet both are tracks that barely noteworthy given the body of work that LB and BT have put forth thus far. The same is true of the Erick Sermon, Grand Puba and Guru tracks. However, Guru’s abstract lyrics on “Supreme Being” are perhaps worth slowing down for.

What does work with this album is the less heralded work of lesser known artists such as Yukimi Nagano’s raspy yet velvety vocals on “Push” (imagine Macy Gray and Jill Scott’s Japanese love child). Steen Rock’s slow, grinding jungle mix on the “Coffee Ready” interlude is hypnotic and the intro and outro by Scratch Magic feature disorienting backward record scratches are unexpected highlights of the album. The album ends with the delicate electronic Bossa Nova-inflected “Moonlight” with the lilting vocal stylings of Liv Likke. The album seems to really begin when all the big name hip hop tracks that may initially compel the listener to buy the release are over and the movers and shakers of the Danish music scene get to shine.

Nobody Beats the Beats is a good album but mainly for the reasons one may not expect. And for those who insist on adhering to a myopic view of hip hop and soul discovering the quality artists milling about the Nordic scene is a great reason to pick up this release.